


Backslide

by jeleania



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Gen, angsty, but gets better, kinda self-harm, mention of suicidal thoughts, so I guess hurt/comfort?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-26
Updated: 2013-07-26
Packaged: 2017-12-21 11:00:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/899516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeleania/pseuds/jeleania
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>follow up with permission to Neyiea's "A Kiss With A Fist Is Better Than None"</p>
<p>Life is better for Jack now. He has friends in the Guardians, people from whom he can get all the hugs he could ever want.</p>
<p>But when he has a bad day, it's all too easy to slip back into old habits...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Backslide

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [A Kiss with A Fist is Better than None](https://archiveofourown.org/works/694820) by [Neyiea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neyiea/pseuds/Neyiea). 



> Here's to hoping that I can do Neyiea's awesome idea and great story justice...

* * *

 

 

Long ears twitched and rotated, focusing on the faint sound that had caught their attention. Bunny paused mid-brushstroke, the canvas before him a lovely sunset landscape in oil paints. He had to do something when he wasn't working on Easter preparations, after all. But now someone was intruding into his Warren...

 

A chill slip of breeze carried the faint scent of snow and evergreen trees to his sensitive nose.

 

Well, that answered who.

 

Putting down his brush with a sigh, the lagomorph stood. Best go see what the mischief-maker wanted before he got his garden frosted or his paint river turned into an ice rink.

 

He followed the waft of wintery scent to the area where the tunnels to all the land's countries stood, the gaping holes of shadows leading upward to the outer world. That explained how the kid got here, he must have found one of the few tunnels accessible to outside spirits if you knew how to find it. Now, where was -

 

Something freezing cold and wet splatted against the back of his neck, making him arch in surprise. Blarmy, that was cold!

 

"Getting slow there, old timer?"

 

Fur bristling in cold and annoyance, Bunny turned, green eyes narrowed at the hovering winter spirit. The white-haired teen had a mocking smile on his lips, floating without a care just out of reach.

 

"Whatcha want, Frostbite?" He bit out. He didn't like the cold, dang it!

 

"What, I can't visit?" Jack floated a bit lower, eyes dancing with glee.

 

"Visitors usually don't pelt their hosts with snowballs." Something about the kid's tone was rubbing him wrong.

 

"Well, you haven't had me visit before." Another snowball formed in the hand not holding his staff. The teen tossed it up and down idly, looking at his target speculatively. "Besides, you could use some exercise. Don't want to get all flabby on carrot cake, do ya?"

 

Puffing out his chest, Bunny lifted his chin. "I'm a highly trained warrior. I don't let myself get flabby. And I don't eat  _that_  much carrot cake."

 

"Really now?" The blue clad boy started circling to the right, making the rabbit turn to keep him in his sights. "I certainly didn't get more than a slice of North's cake last time. And the others didn't eat it. So where ever did it all go?" A teasing smirk curled his lips, just a hint of goading malice in the expression.

 

"That's not - Oot!" Bunny got cut off by a clump of snow smacking his back, making him hoot in shock. Where the blazes did that come from?! Ooh, that's right, the brat could make snow wherever he wanted. Summoning some in mid-air was easy, blasted cold-bringing trickster...

 

Cackling came from the boy, Jack curling up mid-air as he laughed. "Hehehe! Oh - oh, that was good. The l-look on your face! Hahaha!"

 

With a growl, the lagomorph bunched his legs and pounced while the teen was distracted, knocking the blighter out of the air. He was gonna teach the brat a lesson...

 

Recovering fast, Jack shoved a snowball in his fellow spirit's face. He twisted out of the other's loosened grip before they hit the grassy ground, quickly summoning and flinging another clod of his element at the rabbit as Bunny landed. "Not fast enough, cottontail!"

 

"Get back here, Frost!" Digging his claws into the loam, Bunny bound after the fleeing winter spirit. The kid was taunting him, keeping just within his reach then dodging his grasping paws.

 

In the back of his mind, something niggled. This felt familiar, felt important...

 

"Too high for you, Bun-bun?" The winter spirit called, alighting on the lip of a ledge far overhead.

 

"Not in my warren, mate." Bunny growled back, strong legs swiftly propelling him up the lower ledges acting as stairs. When he got his hands on the blasted showpony...

 

Something was wrong here. This was too familiar.

 

Of course it's familiar, he snapped back at the nagging voice in his head. Frost did this all the time. Harassing him whenever he visited the world above.

 

He dodged the next few snow missiles, his muscles warm and reflexes sharp. The brat was going down...

 

Jack didn't move quite fast enough this time. Strong paws gripped his upper arms as gravity forced the pair to the ground. His back hit the earth hard, making his breath oof out of his lungs.

 

"Now what's this about too slow, eh Frostbite?" Bunny gloated a bit, keeping the kid pinned with his superior strength.

 

Pulling a grin onto his face, Jack threw back, "Got tired of waiting for you, that's all. Getting lazy, Foofoo, and is that a paunch forming there?"

 

Gritting his teeth, Bunny pulled back a clenched fist. The brat was -

 

Wait! This is wrong! Something in his head clamored. His eyes! Look at his eyes!

 

Green eyes looked into blue, and a chill that had nothing to do with the cool body under him shot through him. Those eyes weren't taunting, weren't teasing or mocking. No, they were unhealthily eager. Eager for the pain, for the blow to hit, for the bruises that would no doubt form.

 

A recent memory surfaced.

 

_"You wanted me to hurt you?"  
_

_"Yes, it was what I wanted. I needed any form of contact, and that was the easiest to get."_

 

His clenched paw stilled, Bunny freezing as it all clicked together in his head. Shit, he had almost...

 

"Whatcha waiting for, some sweet incentive? I think I got some cookies in my pocket." The tone and expression were full of glee and arrogance, meant to goad him into losing his temper. But the eyes didn't match, told the truth that Frostbite was trying to hide.

 

Relaxing his grip, Bunny shifted back onto his haunches then stepped away a few paces. He needed a bit of space, needed to -

 

"Hey, what's the matter, fluff face?" A thread of desperation slipped past the mocking front, Jack sitting up to stare after the rabbit. Blue eyes couldn't hide the growing distress in the teen as the Pooka moved away from the boy. Bunny wasn't following the plan here. "What happened to the big strong warrior, huh? Bet you hit as weak as a kitten. All talk, no action. Just - just -"

 

The taunting mask was breaking as Bunny watched like fractures across a thawing pond, silvers of despair and fear rising to the surface for the world to view. He could practically hear Frost begging him not to leave, don't turn away from him, please don't ignore him too.

 

"Bunny -" The teen's form started to curl up upon itself, the pale spirit hugging himself in the face of dejection. The sight snapped the rabbit out of his daze.

 

No. He couldn't - wouldn't sit by and let the kid break.

 

After all, that way lead to soul-shattering despair and the horrific wish to make all the pain stop in a permanent and fatal fashion. And if it did get to that, someone may not arrive at the right place at the right time to pull the boy from his dark emotions like he had that Blizzard of sixty-eight.

 

It was past time to do something about it.

 

Strong furry arms wrapped around the winter spirit, the sudden warm presence enveloping him making the teen flinch. Bunny drew the kid to his chest and lay his cheek on white hair, feeling the youngster in his embrace tremble. "Hush, Jackie. Just relax."

 

Thin yet strong shoulders jerked in something close to a sob, chill fingers nervously brushing against the fur of his back.

 

"I got ya, Jackie. It's alright. I'm here."

 

The teen gave in, dropping his staff and burrowing into the rabbit's front. His hands gripped the soft long pelt a bit too tightly, but Bunny just crooned into the child's ear. A large paw rubbed up and down a heaving back, puffs of chill air striking his pectorals as Frost sobbed without tears.

 

Bunny's heart clenched in sympathetic pain. Looked like the kid was riding quite the emotional roller coaster today. First, whatever had upset him enough to backslide into old unhealthy habits. Then the acting the part of the annoying brat to get the Easter spirit mad. When Bunny figured out what was going on, he had backed off, no doubt making the winter spirit feel he was being abandoned by a friend when he greatly needed support. And finally, unexpectedly receiving the contact he craved and the rush of relief and who knows what else that brought. Well, the Pooka figured he'd be pretty shaken up too. So he'd just hold the kid as long as he needed. It was the least he could do to try to make up for not being there for so long...

 

It took several long minutes before Jack's shaking eased, his breathing slowly calming and his grip relaxing from nearly ripping out fur. Bunny didn't pull away, figuring the kid had been without touch more than long enough.

 

"Sorry."

 

Nuzzling his cheek against the winter spirit's head, Bunny answered the whispered apology. "Don't fret over it. Can I know what brought this about?"

 

"Nothing."

 

"Jackie." No way something hadn't caused this little episode today, didn't make the teen desperate enough for contact that he'd try to piss off the rabbit.

 

A tired sigh from the teen. "... It was just a bad day. People walking through me and other stuff. It all just kinda added up, and I just..."

 

"Hmm." Bunny had to repress a shiver at the memory of that failed Easter last year and the soul-ripping sensation of having a person pass through you. To think Frostbite had been going through that for centuries... Made the rabbit's respect for the kid's strength of heart definitely go up. Thankfully, he'd gotta back most of his believers between the Easter just past and the actions of the other Guardians. In fact, the little blighter in his arms had done a lot to revive kids' belief in the Easter avatar all on his own without even being asked...

 

"Don't think you're getting fat or anything, honest." Jack added on, probably not wanting him mad or anything.

 

"I know. You were just saying stuff to make me mad." The lagomorph reassured, tightening his grip a touch. The boy nestled closer, gladly accepting whatever touch he could get. And that was part of the problem. "Did ya forget what I said before?"

 

Jack leaned back just enough to give the rabbit a confused look, fingers still hanging on to warm fur. "Huh?"

 

"I told ya, you ever feel..." He had to take a breath, the memory of what Jack had planned to do that horrible Easter years ago would always make something in his chest clench in horror and fear. "Ever feel like you did, or that you needed contact, you just had to let me know."

 

Blue eyes widened then were cast downward, Jack apparently deciding studying the rabbit's ruff very important at that particular moment.

 

After gazing at him a moment, Bunny sighed sadly. "You didn't think I meant it, did ya."

 

"No!" Jack's head snapped up, then he bit his lips, looking to the side. "I - I just didn't -"

 

"Just didn't?" Bunny coaxed. Getting the kid to talk could be so dang hard sometimes.

 

"I didn't know how to ask." The teen whispered, cheekbones turning slightly blue with a bit of blush caused by some mix of embarrassment and shame.

 

"Aw, Jackie." Bunny's paw ran through soft white locks. "Ya don't need to say anything fancy. Hell, ya don't need to say anything at all. Ya can just come up and hug me if ya want."

 

Shy blue eyes, tinged with fragile hope, peered up at him through a pale fringe. "Really?"

 

"Really." Adding a teasing lilt to his voice, Bunny added. "Just don't misuse it by tackling me when I'm painting or anything."

 

Apparently missing the joke, Jack shook his head vigorously. "I won't! I promise!"

 

"Alright, alright. I believe ya." He roughly ruffled the teen's hair, making the winter spirit squawk and scoot back a bit. Bunny chuckled and mostly released the boy, leaving an arm around blue-clad shoulders. "Now, before ya showed up, I was working on a painting. Ya wanna come watch? Or maybe even try mucking with colors some yourself?"

 

After using his toes to lift up his staff back into his hands, Jack ducked his head and leaned into the rabbit's side a bit, smiling as he softly answered. "Sure."

 

"Good." Bunny smiled himself. The pair walked down the path between the ledges of the steep hillside, the smaller tucked securely into the lagomorph's side.

 

He knew it would take quite a while to get Jack used to the new state of affairs. Getting hit, collecting bruises, accepting or even relishing the pain - it had been the winter spirit's normal way of being touched for years now. That way of thinking, that being hurt was the logical way to get the contact he need, it wouldn't disappear right off the bat. Just because he now had people who would be happy to give him all the kind pats on the head, firm hugs, and gentle physical contact he could ask for didn't automatically fix things. Especially when something like today happened, upsetting him and driving him into falling back on old ways of going about things. It was only to be expected that backslides would occur when he was feeling low emotionally. 

 

But Bunny and the other Guardians would work at it. They would remind Jack with every friendly touch that came without pain that life was different now. With time, Jack wouldn't feel ashamed to ask for a needed hug. He wasn't alone anymore.

 

If Bunny had anything to say about it, Jack would never be alone again.

 

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> so, there we are.
> 
> Hope y'all liked it! :)
> 
> Go read Neyiea's work!


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